Always With Me
by BettyHT
Summary: Little Joe wants to go on a solo hunting trip, but he isn't as alone as he thinks.


**Always With Me**

Joe was pleading his case for a solo hunting trip but it wasn't going well. "But Adam goes hunting by himself all the time."

Ben was firm in his refusal and had logic on his side. "Adam is twelve years older than you and spent years learning about the wilderness and how to survive in the mountains from his Paiute friends. You don't have his experience or his training. That's the last word on it. You are not going hunting alone when you are only fifteen years old."

"I'll be sixteen in a couple of days. Some men get married at sixteen."

"Not many, and certainly not any who have a family who can still support and protect them."

Fuming, Little Joe knew there was no way for him to win this one, but he didn't have to like it. He left to go do his chores, but anyone who saw the stiff walk and the shoulders hunched up knew how upset he was. Hoss looked at Adam and inclined his head toward their father before he followed Joe out the door. Adam walked over and sat on the corner of the desk. Ben knew he had something to say, but there never was any rushing of Adam. He got frustrated though when Adam said nothing even after several minutes had passed.

"Are you going to sit there all morning or are you going to say something?" Adam looked at his father as if to ask if there was more. There was. "I suppose you think I'm babying him. I suppose you think that if you did it at thirteen and Hoss did it at fourteen that I ought to let Joe go now?" Still Adam said nothing. "Well, Joe isn't like the two of you. He's impetuous. He doesn't think his way through things. He does the first thing that pops into his head." Still Adam was silent. "I suppose you think he's at least partly that way because I never let him take full responsibility for anything? You probably think he deserves a chance to prove himself and to show that he can think things through and plan. All right, go tell him that he can go. You're going with him though." Watching Adam arch one brow, Ben relented. "All right, you don't have to be with him, but I want you close enough to go help him if he needs it." Adam waited. "It's the only way I'll get any sleep at night at all."

"If that's what you want, I'll go tell Little Joe." Adam walked away, and Ben was absolutely certain he was smiling. Little Joe was in the house about two minutes later to thank his father for changing his mind.

"Gosh, Pa, Adam said he talked it through with you. Now I can go. I'll bring home the biggest elk you ever saw!"

"Just make sure you bring yourself home safely. On your first solo hunt, that's all I ask. Please?"

The next morning, Little Joe checked and double-checked his supplies and equipment before bidding his father and brothers goodbye. After Joe was at least a half-mile out, Adam got his horse and rode out with supplies at a diagonal to Joe's route. He would turn eventually so that he would parallel his little brother's trail close enough to be summoned if necessary but far enough away that Little Joe wouldn't know he was there unless absolutely necessary.

At the end of the week, a weary Little Joe returned to the Ponderosa. Already there and cleaned up, Adam was sitting and reading a book as Hoss and Ben did their best to look like they were playing a game of checkers. After taking care of his horses, and putting things away, Little Joe headed for the house. He delivered one haunch of an elk to Hop Sing. When he came into the main room of the house, his father greeted him by saying they hadn't heard him ride in because the windows were closed.

"Pa, it was the best hunting trip ever. Pa, I saw all sorts of elk, and I shot a huge bull elk in just two days of hunting. I had him hanging in a tree all dressed out, but some grizzly bears were down from the hills because of the early snows. I guess I didn't hang it high enough. They got part of it, and when I yelled at them to scare them off, they came running after me. I remembered that Hoss said they can't climb trees so I climbed the first one that was handy. I know Hoss said they can reach up to at least twelve feet so I got higher than that. Those bears stayed there most of the day. Eventually they must have had enough to eat or they knew the snow was coming because they left, but they'd scared off my packhorse.

"That's when the snow started coming down. The wind picked up, and I didn't even have a blanket because all that stuff was still on the packhorse. The storm clouds were building fast getting heavier and lower ready to dump a lot of snow. It was a big worry because that early season snow can be heavy and wet and a lot can fall in a short time. I remembered what Adam said to do if you need an emergency shelter from the snow. I built a fire and let it burn while I collected sticks and branches and scraped up a heap of pine needles. I dug a shallow pit, pushed those coals in, and buried them under enough sand that they wouldn't get too hot and burn me. Then, right on top of those coals I buried, I put up a real short shelter just big enough for me. Extra space just means there's more room for cold air to get in. I pushed all those pine needles in there, and then I burrowed into them after I got Cochise into the shelter of some thick pines. It worked perfectly, and I even got to sleep. When I woke up, I was real thirsty. I wanted to swallow some snow, but you know how these early storms are. It got so warm the snow was all melting. That's when I remembered you said to watch for animal trails heading downhill and to watch for green. I found a nice pool of water and some rabbits. I had water and food. Funny thing, that pack horse was stuck in some brush not too far off with its reins all tangled in one of the bushes." Ben couldn't help it and looked at Adam at that point. Adam shrugged. It had been the least he could do. "Anyway, I started walking back to where I had the elk hanging, and a pack of wolves was right across a clearing from me. I turned sideways so they would know I meant them no harm. I watched out of the corner of my eye, and that big wolf watched me as the others just disappeared into the brush. I guess he decided I wasn't any trouble and then he left too. That's when I went back and got what was left of that elk, and then I rode home."

"So did you enjoy your first hunting trip alone?"

"You know, it was kind of crazy because I was alone, except I wasn't. Every time I did something, I remembered one of you telling me or showing me how to do it. All of you were always with me all the time I was gone. I think next time, we should all go together though. It would be more fun."

Ben smiled.


End file.
